A double-blind, individual randomized Phase 3 trial will be undertaken in children under five years of age living in areas of Burkina Faso or Mali where the transmission of malaria is intense and highly seasonal to determine whether administration of further doses of the malaria vaccine RTS,S/AS01 at the beginning of the malaria transmission until children reach the age of five years is (a) as effective as SMC with SP + AQ in preventing clinical malaria (b) provides additional, useful protection when given together with SMC. 

The primary trial end-point will be the incidence of clinical episodes of malaria detected by passive case detection.

This is a two-year extension of the current RTS,S/AS01 + SMC trial to continue the trial until the study children reach the age of five years, the current age at which SMC is recommended until.